|Downtown Business Alliance
With a new year beginning, Marlene DeYong, president of the Sulphur Springs Downtown Business Alliance, invites local individuals and business owners to consider membership in the SSDBA, a nonprofit organization encouraging the development and improvement of the business climate in Sulphur Springs. At her Main Street retail business, DeYong described some activities planned for 2024.
“The whole goal of the SSDBA is to bring business and activity to our town to help our city grow. New members are needed to help support planned events. During the early weeks of 2024, we prepare for the first sponsored event of 2024,' DeYong said. 'Ladies Night Out is held in March and is a two-hour fun and social-based shopping event that takes place all over downtown. Shoppers can earn special discounts and savings by signing up inside the merchant businesses. That evening, a drawing is held for a valuable prize gift basket.”
The next event happens in April 2024.
According to DeYong, “the SSDBA Spring Market on Main, set for April 22, is an all-day market and major shopping experience in an open-air setting designed for pedestrian traffic. With 65 outside vendors, the commerce generated by attracting shoppers to Sulphur Springs benefits not only the vendors but every storefront along the downtown sidewalks and beyond the boundaries of downtown.'
Spring Market on Main is usually coupled with ‘Earth Day,’ a pairing with a unique draw.
Earth Day, the global event and international holiday first observed in 1970 will occur this year on April 22, the same day as Spring Market on Main and just two weeks after the Great Eclipse occurs.
“The Great Eclipse will present a huge opportunity for Hopkins County business. Because Sulphur Springs is situated on the center line of totality, a large influx of visitors is expected to arrive before the eclipse takes place on April 8, 2024. Along with the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce, SSDBA is promoting four days of fun leading up to four minutes of total darkness' for eclipse visitors which will include concerts, free events, and excellent areas for viewing. SSDBA has produced a new foldout map of downtown which is available now, free of charge, at downtown businesses,' DeYong noted.
The map’s QR code enables sightseers, tourists, and eclipse visitors to easily locate eateries, hotels, recreational and retail areas during their stays.
Every summer, spontaneous pop-up shopping events may take place downtown in which SSDBA may partner. Autumn will bring a major annual event, the Heritage Square Car Show, held on Celebration Plaza on the first Saturday of November. It is one of the SSDBA’s most successful efforts, one that requires planning and hands-on participation by members as well as volunteers. “The Car Show continues to grow in attendance and reputation,” stated DeYong. “Visitors come to Sulphur Springs to stay, eat, shop, and have a memorable time. Besides viewing the entries and strolling the city sidewalks, they enjoy the shops, the courthouse, and other historic attractions on the downtown square.”
December is also a very active season for SSDBA members.
DeYong said, “There’s the annual SSDBA Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa Visit on the square staged on the first Friday in December and followed the same night by the exciting Christmas Lighted Parade sponsored by the Lions Club. This year, members distributed candy bags to all the children who came to see Santa, as well as the children of Journey Road Ministry. The next morning, members put on another event, “Christmas Market on Main,' an openair shopping event on the first Saturday of December. Its 60-plus vendors help create not only a family-fun event but a commercially successful one for Sulphur Springs merchants.”
Early on, the SSDBA established a history of finding needs within the business community and striving to fill those needs.
DeYong recalled that in 2019, through SSDBA encouragement, the City of Sulphur Springs entered and won the Rudy Bruner Silver Award for Urban Excellence and a $10,000 prize which was used to install internet service to the entire downtown district, a distinct asset for downtown.
Earlier, the SSDBA had established the annual Growth and Renewal Award, presented annually during the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Membership Banquet to recognize a deserving business or organization located in the downtown district.
If you would like to make a nomination for the Growth and Renewal or other award, the deadline is Jan. 2. Contact hopkinschamber. org.
SSDBA meetings are held monthly on the third Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
To find out more about events planned and membership opportunities, visit sulphurspringsdba.com or Facebook.